There are plenty of ways to do the two things that Spira does: Charge your phone and tell you the time. But there's nothing quite like the device that interaction design student Alice Robbiani has built to combine them—her inductive charger turns your iPhone into an interactive wall clock while it charges. »10/14/14 5:30pm 10/14/14 5:30pm

Philippe Starck is known for designs that are as functional as they are beautiful. So it's not surprising that when it came to designing a sofa, the results would include everything from privacy dividers, to accessible power outlets, to even a Powermat wireless induction charging pad. There's probably a good reason… »4/09/13 4:00pm 4/09/13 4:00pm

Its larger form factor and bigger battery mean the iPhone 5 should last longer on a single charge. But to overcome the fact that battery technology still basically sucks, Apple has applied for a 'shake to charge' patent that uses electromagnetic induction to convert everyday motions into extra battery life. »9/20/12 10:41am 9/20/12 10:41am

Why would anyone want a mat that does nothing but charge phones? It's dumb and ugly and takes up space. But an alarm clock that you just set your phone down on to charge it? Yes please. »1/08/12 8:10pm 1/08/12 8:10pm

Just because a patent's filed, doesn't mean the company in question has any ambition to actually make the damn thing. Take Apple's inductive charger, which proposes wrapping headphones around a charging tower with the earbuds conducting electricity to the iPhone. »8/05/11 9:39am 8/05/11 9:39am

Sonic, that talented hedgehog you might remember for racing around at superhedgehog speeds or flamboyantly collecting golden rings, has a new line of work. Charging Wiimotes. God only knows where Tails has ended up. »12/27/10 7:40pm 12/27/10 7:40pm

Well, it's inductive charging, not magic. But Canon's Cross Media dock looks like a particularly sweet implementation, letting you not only juice up to three cameras or camcorders sans wires, but suck down and share your pics and vids too. »10/14/10 6:40pm 10/14/10 6:40pm

Inductive charging: a hell of a lot more convenient than plugging your controllers in or replacing their batteries all the time. An inductive charging station that looks like a spaceship: a hell of a lot cooler than one that doesn't. »9/08/10 4:00pm 9/08/10 4:00pm